Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-05-26
EQUEER HEBREW SIGNS.
,oeEN IN A WALK w THE POLISH
Jew QUARTER or NEW YORK.

Of the Curious Sign Notwithstanding
About Judisch-Deatsc and the An
client Hebrew Tongue.
New York's miles of sign boards present
IN endless variety OF peculiar names, oc-
eupations and photography, and a diver
city OF foreign languages, which embraces
nearly every nation Oh the globe. The
odd signs are usually to be found in these
localities Of the city where the foreigners
Of q certain nationality have hived them
selves, and made up q district distinct
lively their own. Within a few years
there has been an immense immigration
of the Polish Jews to this country. Their
homes in this city have been, as a rule,
located in Bayard, Division, Chatham,
Essex and Hester streets. The stores
along these t~horoughfares advertise their
wares in signs written In Hebrew charac
tiers. The most ordinary observer is apt
to note with some curiosity that the name
Of the article is written from right to left,
and the figure stating the price is written
according 70 our own usage. Thus, in
stead OF writing as in English, Meat
l0c., F" these Hebrew signs express II as
,'10c.-taeM."
A reporter happened to be standing in
front of a liquor store in Essex street,
engaged in an attempt to decipher one of
these curious sign boards. He was ac-
costed by an elderly gentleman, who wore
q small black velvet skull cap. He asked
the reporter whether he could read the
sign.
The latter answered, "No, sir. Can yous"
'Oh, yes, | can" replied the old man.
s'That top line reads: 'Liker store; Die
beste Trinke."
"Why that isn't Hebrew exclaimed
the learned reporter. ''That's a mixture
Of English and German"
''Quite correct said the stranger;
''that is what is known as Judisch-
Deutsch, but il seems % me since the
English words have been so frequently
used, the name scarce covers it,"
ABOUT JuDIscH-DEUTsCH.
The reporter asked the old man to tell
He readily consented.
''The name Of Judisch-D eutsch," he
said, literally translated, means Hebrew
German. II is not a language, but a dia-
lect, or, rs the Polish Jews themselves
term it, a jargon. 1t takes its name from
the fact that ii is written in Hebrew char
acters, but its p~reponderant element is
German. IL contains words from almost
every language, but the extensive use of
English is very recent Its history, like
that OF all languages, would be the history
Of the people who speak it, and would
show the singular wanderings Of the Jews
since the earliest ages. At a very early
date in the worlds history the Jews
traversed. with the Phoenicians, the Med
i~ferranean sea and Atlantic ocean, and
were engaged in trading with Britain and
the northern part Of Germany. About
the year 800 b. c. Jewish travellers were
found in Greece, Italy and Spain. From
the latter country they wandered into
France, and about the twelfth century
they were strongly intrenched In Germany
and parts of Austria. Here they learned
the German language. Still retaining q
large portion of the words picked up in
other countries, the result was a conglom-
crate Of German, Spanish, French, Sla-
vonian and other tongues, the first named
being the chief element. And from this
remarkable pot pourri of languages was
produced what is known as Judisch-
Deutsch. There were also some few Eng
lish words, but scarcely sufficient to be
termed q factor I'm its composition.
"As education became more widely diff
fused In Germany, and the Jews were Of
fered better opportunities for becoming
cultured and enlightened, their use Of this
dialect gave place to q more correct and
polished German, but IL is still spoken In
many Of the doris in that country.
Those of the race, however, who travelled
still further east and settled In Poland
and Russia have never had any chance for
Improvement and they still speak the jar
gon. Their dialect is distinguished from
the better German by a frequent use Of q
harsh, cultural termination ich.' II is
this dialect OF the Poles which is used in
the theatrical representations given at the
Oriental theatre, which is carried ON en-
tirely by Polish Jews"
ANCIENT HEBREW TONGUE.
The old maj paused here and the re-
porter took occasion TO ask: But what
has become Of the original Hebrew Ian
gnage that they started out withi''
swell, the ancient Hebrew tongue Is
very limited in the number Of its words,
and does not admit readily Of extended
conversation; consequently the nomads
were compelled TO prey upon the
of the richer languages in order TO acquire
expressions for their growing domestic,
but more particularly for their CONNER
cial needs. The idioms which have been
retained are few and are chiefly OF a
homely domestic nature. The distinctive
characteristic Of this dialect is that IL Is
only spoken by Jews. Wherever Jewish
communities have been formed IL Is found
more or less in use. IL is said TO exist In
almost every inhabitable portion Of the
globe. IL is extensively met with In Asia
Minor, and even in distant Kamtchatka,
for, you know" and he made a significant
gesture with his right hand, you find
them wherever you 60"
The reporter then asked him TO trans
late some Of the signs which could be seen
on the stores.
The old man said; ~ must tell you be-
forehand that while the Jewish characters
express almost the actual, correct spelling
of the German words, they are very de-
ficient I'm expressing the English orthog-
raphy. I will give you the exact equiva-
lent In the letters Of your own language,
and YOU will find that the word will sound
lust as you ~oftenest hear 10 spoken by the
more ignorant class Of Polish Jews, a dia-
lect which has been made familiar by
Samuel of Posen and other Jewish stage
characters. In writing them remember
that the words are all written hind end
foremost.
'Here is a remarkable combination of
English, German aud Hebrew, " said the
cd mar as be stopped in front of a large
dry goods store and read the following
yfrum q gigantic vari colored sign board;
Hlsr Isl IN bekommen
Dry Goods. Hoser, Linens. shais
FTr p,dlArx und priwat